Hacked


 2015-08-29

Neil5

Editor’s Note: Neil is one of the Beyond Type 1 Captains for the Revlon Love Is On Million Dollar Challenge!

You can donate HERE

As a young US Air Force enlisted man with promises of a glamorous career in aviation, I had more drive and determination than most people my age. About halfway through an intense flight training program, my pancreas shut down.  Dry mouth, cramping legs, sleepless nights and no appetite were all signs that something was wrong, but I’d worked too hard to get into the program to admit I had a problem (cue intense Top Gun music).

Me and my training partners agreed to keep my obvious signs of sickness to ourselves. But after three months of hiding the pain, I couldn’t keep pushing through it. A trip to the ER showed that my blood glucose was just above 1500.

I basically had Aunt Jemima syrup running through my veins.

I spent a week in the hospital, went blind for about five days and when I was discharged from the hospital . . . my commanding officers said I’d lost my flight status because of type 1 diabetes (cue melodramatic Marley & Me music).

My entire life changed that day. I thought I’d lost pretty much everything. I had worked for years to become a pilot in the Air Force and was back at square one or even square zero. But after all that denial, I did realize that my way of life would be different forever. So I straightened up.

Humor has always been a way for me to cope with things I can’t control. Sometimes, I need to laugh at type 1 diabetes (T1D) to be able to muscle down for the long haul.

But people need hope even more than humor. That’s where #hackthebetes came from. If it’s possible to make someone laugh because they get their insulin pump tubing caught in the lawnmower like I did . . . then we can bring hope.

Every day, I try to encourage somebody to push through, to learn something or, at the very least, to realize they’re not alone. We all remember what our first day was like with T1D. By putting our heads together and helping someone who might be getting their own bad news tomorrow we remind people that a T1D diagnosis isn’t the end. #Type1Day1 is a short film that evolved as a crowdsourced project filled with best practices, tips, hacks, funny stories and encouragement for people newly diagnosed with T1D.

I’m hacking the betes because it deserves to be hacked. I’ll try just about anything short of lawlesness to figure out a better way to live beyond T1D.

Editor’s Note: Neil’s daily posts on Instagram are an important reminder that laughter can be healing! He is the brains, brawn and bravado behind the “Type1Day1” video project, which you can learn more about here.Neil4

WRITTEN BY Neil Greathouse, POSTED 08/29/15, UPDATED 07/25/23

Neil "got diabetes" in the Air Force in 1992 and was determined not to let diabetes "get him". So he's been trying to #hackthebetes since the first day, and won't stop till we find a cure. He has researched the possibility of replacing his "lazy pancreas" with a Magic 8 Ball. Find Neil's daily T1D videos, filled with humor, hacks, and hilarity, on @TheBetes on Instagram.